‘You have 80,000 police personnel, how did Amritpal Singh escape?’, HC asks Punjab Police

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday remarked that it was an intelligence failure if Sikh leader Amritpal Singh managed to escape after being chased by security forces, , The Indian Express reported.

On March 18, the Punjab Police had launched a manhunt to arrest Amritpal Singh, the leader of Waris Punjab De. However, he managed to escape and has been absconding for four days.

The High Court on Tuesday questioned why Amritpal has not been taken into custody when the “entire police force” of Punjab was after him.

“You have 80,000 police,” Justice NS Shekhawat said. “How has he not been arrested? If he escaped, this is an intelligence failure.”

In response, Advocate General Vinod Ghai said: “It happens sometimes. The G-20 summit was also going on.”

Ghai also told the court that the National Security Act has been invoked against Singh.

The High Court told the Punjab government to file a status report on the matter, according to The Indian Express. It also appointed advocate Tanu Bedi as the amicus curiae – friend of court – to assist the bench in the case.

Amritpal and his supporters have been booked in several cases, including for storming a police station in Amritsar on February 23. After the manhunt began, the police also filed a fresh case against Amritpal Singh and some...

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